McLaren sign Nyck de Vries

McLaren have announced that they have signed 14-year-old Nyck de Vries to their young driver programme.

The Dutch driver will be managed by Anthony Hamilton, Lewis’s father, and the Hamilton Management Group throughout his racing career in different categories.

“McLaren has a long-held commitment to assisting young talent – we believe it’s part of the responsibility of the motor racing community to encourage and nurture junior racers, and we are committed to doing just that,” said team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

“Nyck appears to be a very exciting prospect, and we are looking forward to assisting his junior career, providing him with the support and training he requires to succeed.”

Anthony Hamilton, his manager, said:

“Nyck is an extremely promising youngster. His father Hendrik has been fantastically supportive of Nyck’s career, and has been instrumental in raising him up to not just be a great young racing driver, but also a fine young man. Together, we both believe that, with the right level of support, we can take his career to the highest level.”

“We’ll be working very closely with Dino Chiesa, who will be running Nyck in Italy this year. Dino is an old friend, who previously ran Lewis and Nico (Rosberg) in Team MBM, so he knows everything about nurturing and developing young talent. We believe this is a very exciting and dynamic partnership.”

Nyck also paid a visit to the McLaren Technology Centre. Afterwards, he said:

“My visit to the McLaren Technology Centre has been a fantastic experience and I am very honoured and grateful for the support of McLaren in helping to develop my career.”

“The resources they have are incredible, and I believe they’ll be able to provide me with the perfect framework for improving my skills, my fitness and my motorsport experience.”

More details regarding McLaren’s driver development programme will be released later this month.